Responding to last week's prompt, I typically "read" everything except the letters, goings ons, capsule book reviews, and cartoons in the digital edition. Although this is usually saved in a read-in-later app like Pocket and I'll do a lot of text-to-speech listening of articles. Most my of actual reading happens on a treadmill. This means I usually consume it in inverse order of how it appears online (as that's how it's saved), going Talk of the Town -> Reviews -> Features, followed by the few remaining things in the print edition later in the week.
I thought that Lasdun piece had an odd style not very congruent with the typical New Yorker piece. The first person narrative and not bringing a lot of new original reporting was not what I was expecting from it.
I'd personally rank the Getty one as a must read, although perhaps for opposite reasons. There were new details on the family and tax avoidance that I found fascinating, although I guess it's been a while since I've browsed those Wikipedia pages. The personal intrigue of the wealth manager was less compelling and was happy to have that mostly recede.
Finally, I'd call out that Talk of the Town article on the guy restoring license plates as a must-read. As a non-New Yorker this was a scam I wasn't really aware of. The arch style of Talk of the Town suited this story well.
Yes - for a while I consumed the feature articles using that Audm service where they're read aloud for you. Text to speech is too computerized, so I like that they provide the audiobook equivalent.
I agree the Lasdun piece had a weird voice! I didn't mind it, but it was out of the ordinary.
I think if you aren't familiar with the Getty family's history, it's certainly a crazy story with lots of twists and turns. I just happened to be familiar with it. The tax avoidance stuff... just not my cup of tea. It felt to me like it was using goofy and inelegant examples to try to keep things exciting, which didn't work.
Yes - a good batch of Talk of the Towns this week; the Wet Leg profile was nice too although it was mostly repeat talking points from another article I'd read about Wet Leg. Gersh Kuntzman, the license plate guy, is quite a character with quite a name; for a long time he was the New York Daily News', shall we say, "Crank Correspondent," I remember he was a conservative target twice for articles about hating how "God Bless America" plays before events, and about having a panic attack after firing an AR-15. Then he got hired by Newsweek and immediately fired for grilling them on being owned by the Moonies. So I'm glad to see he's still out there being cranky!
Responding to last week's prompt, I typically "read" everything except the letters, goings ons, capsule book reviews, and cartoons in the digital edition. Although this is usually saved in a read-in-later app like Pocket and I'll do a lot of text-to-speech listening of articles. Most my of actual reading happens on a treadmill. This means I usually consume it in inverse order of how it appears online (as that's how it's saved), going Talk of the Town -> Reviews -> Features, followed by the few remaining things in the print edition later in the week.
I thought that Lasdun piece had an odd style not very congruent with the typical New Yorker piece. The first person narrative and not bringing a lot of new original reporting was not what I was expecting from it.
I'd personally rank the Getty one as a must read, although perhaps for opposite reasons. There were new details on the family and tax avoidance that I found fascinating, although I guess it's been a while since I've browsed those Wikipedia pages. The personal intrigue of the wealth manager was less compelling and was happy to have that mostly recede.
Finally, I'd call out that Talk of the Town article on the guy restoring license plates as a must-read. As a non-New Yorker this was a scam I wasn't really aware of. The arch style of Talk of the Town suited this story well.
Great thoughts!
Yes - for a while I consumed the feature articles using that Audm service where they're read aloud for you. Text to speech is too computerized, so I like that they provide the audiobook equivalent.
I agree the Lasdun piece had a weird voice! I didn't mind it, but it was out of the ordinary.
I think if you aren't familiar with the Getty family's history, it's certainly a crazy story with lots of twists and turns. I just happened to be familiar with it. The tax avoidance stuff... just not my cup of tea. It felt to me like it was using goofy and inelegant examples to try to keep things exciting, which didn't work.
Yes - a good batch of Talk of the Towns this week; the Wet Leg profile was nice too although it was mostly repeat talking points from another article I'd read about Wet Leg. Gersh Kuntzman, the license plate guy, is quite a character with quite a name; for a long time he was the New York Daily News', shall we say, "Crank Correspondent," I remember he was a conservative target twice for articles about hating how "God Bless America" plays before events, and about having a panic attack after firing an AR-15. Then he got hired by Newsweek and immediately fired for grilling them on being owned by the Moonies. So I'm glad to see he's still out there being cranky!